1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to printing apparatus, such as printers, facsimile machines and copy machines. More particularly, the present application relates to printing apparatus having a sheet setting mechanism that permits the transfer of image data onto various sizes of paper sheets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional printing apparatus typically use mechanical switches and/or optical sensors to detect the size of a sheet on which image data is to be printed. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 8-36330, discusses a conventional printer that uses more than one detector to determine the size of various sheets stored in a sheet cassette for subsequent printing. The printer then controls a printing operation of the printer based on the detected sheet size.
In such conventional printing apparatus, the number of detectable sheet sizes is related to the number of detectors. As a result, such printing apparatus are not readily adaptable to detect sheet sizes other than those in which the detectors are positioned to detect. The number of detectors can be increased but the number of components and additional circuitry needed to accommodate the increase in detectors, results in printing apparatus that are more complex and costly to manufacture.